Minors
A minor provides a coherent program of study in an area outside of the undergraduate degree that the student is pursuing. The Mechanical Engineering Department offers a minor in Mechatronics for undergraduates outside of the Mechanical Engineering program. Mechatronics utilizes the principles of mechanical, electric, control, and computer engineering to create fully-featured systems and robots. Only courses completed with a grade of "C" or better are accepted towards the minor.
Requirements for a Minor in Mechatronics
- ME 225 Dynamics
Particle kinematics and kinetics, systems of particles, work-energy, impulse and momentum, rigid-body kinematics, relative motion, Coriolis acceleration, rigid-body kinetics, direct and oblique impact, eccentric impact.
- ME 358 Machine Dynamics and Mechanisms
The principles of dynamics as applied to the analysis of the accelerations and dynamic forces in machines such as linkages, cam systems, gears trains, belts, chains and couplings. The effect these dynamic forces have on the dynamic balance and operation of the machines and the attending stresses in the individual components of the machines. Some synthesis techniques. Students also work in teams on a semester long project associated with the design of a mechanical system from recognizing the need through a detailed conceptual design.
- ME 483 Control Systems
Analysis and synthesis of feedback control systems to achieve specified stability and performance criteria, stability via root-locus techniques, Nyquist's criterion, Bode and Nichol's plots, effect of various control laws and pole-zero compensation on performance, applications to servomechanisms, hydraulic and pneumatic control systems, analysis of nonlinear systems.
- ME 522 Mechatronics
This course introduces principles of mechatronics to integrate mechanical, electronic/electrical, and control/computer/software components for motion control systems. Electromechanical components and integration concepts include: machine construction and control concepts, control modes (open/closed loop, servo, and process control) and motion profiles, motion drivers and actuators (AC drives, motors, gearing, servo and stepper motors), PLC control and programming (ladder and Boolean and combinatorial logic interfaces), microprocessor/computer based (logic, operating systems, SCADA, and HMI), field devices, signal conditioning, and communication (I/O hardware and management, vision systems, protocols, and programming languages), and introduction to system integration.Course includes hands-on lab work, small design projects, case studies, and industry guest lectures.
- ME 551 Microprocessor Applications in Mechanical Engineering
Introduction to basic concepts and current state-of-the-art hardware; architecture and elementary programming; instruction sets; fundamental software concepts; interfacing microprocessors to external devices; microprocessors in control systems; hands-on laboratory applications of microprocessors in mechanical engineering systems.
- ME 573 Introduction to Microelectromechanical Systems
Introduction to microsystem design, modeling and fabrication. Course topics include material properties of Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), microfabrication technologies, structural behavior, sensing and actuation principles and methods. Emphasis on microsystems design, modeling and simulation including lumped element modeling and finite element analysis. The emerging nano-materials, processes and devices will also be discussed. Student teams design microsystems (sensors, actuators and sensing/control systems) of a variety of types, (optical MEMS, bioMEMS, inertial sensors, etc.) to meet a set of performance specifications using a realistic microfabrication process.
